Trai spam proposal draws objections from Airtel, Jio, Vi

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) proposed spam-control rules for call-management apps such as Truecaller in April 2025, and the proposal has drawn objections from Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea. The draft would prohibit these apps from tagging or blocking incoming calls from commercial 140 and 160-series numbers as spam and would require them to share user-generated spam reports with Trai's Do-not-disturb (DND) registry.

The proposal focuses on third-party call-management apps that identify, tag, or block incoming calls. Under the draft, apps such as Truecaller would have to treat 140 and 160-series numbers differently from other calls, even when users report them as spam, and would also need to pass user-generated complaint data to Trai's DND system.

The dispute reflects a broader policy debate in India over how spam controls should apply across telecom operators and over-the-top (OTT) apps. Trai's proposal targets app-based call filtering rather than only carrier networks, bringing platforms such as Truecaller into the same anti-spam policy discussion as operators including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea.